Accountants counting the cost of cutbacks in their pay packets

Marion Dakers is deputy news editor and covers the transport and professional services beat.

Marion Dakers

ACCOUNTANTS are the unhappiest workers in Britain, with just 42 per cent satisfied with their current job, according to a survey of 2,000 people published today.

And just 35 per cent of accountants are happy with their wages, below the national average of 43 per cent, the figures from Randstad suggest.

Lawyers, meanwhile, are among the happiest, with 79 per cent professing to enjoy their job, and 55 per cent saying their pay packets are big enough.

Almost nine in ten insurance workers are satisfied overall, but the sector was beaten into second place by utilities, where 96 per cent of employees said they were happy.

Accountancy workers are less satisfied than retail, construction and healthcare staff in the survey.

“Accountancy firms were under increasing pressure to look after the bottom line and protect their margins during the downturn. 2012 was a tough year with the confidence of accountancy professionals falling even further than in 2011,” said Randstad financial and professional managing director Tara Ricks. “Salary packages became less important than the financial health of a potential employer.”

Prospects for accountants have picked up in recent months, Ricks added.

The low levels of job satisfaction have not put off prospective employees: Randstad figures showed that 45 per cent of people who are aware of PwC would like to work for the firm, making it the fifth most attractive workplace.

John Lewis was the most desirable employer, with 53 per cent saying they would like to work at the retail partnership.